Under the previous political administration, two Ministers of Government, first, the then Finance Minister Winston Jordan and afterwards, Dominic Gaskin in his capacity as Minister of Business, made public what they said was government’s intention to usher in the full and effective implementation of the provision in the 2004 Small Business Act to allow for small businesses to access 20 per cent of state contracts in circumstances where the effective completion of those contracts lay within the scope of their competence. This newspaper recalls not just applauding the pronouncements, but as well, advocating that the clause be brought into effect at the earliest time since we felt – and indeed still do – that little attempt had been made, previously, by government and by the Business Support Organizations (BSO’s) to lift small and micro businesses ‘off the floor’.
We recall, too, the expressed enthusiasm of the CEO of the Small Business Bureau, Dr Lowell Porter, who saw in the decision to focus on the 20% allocation to small businesses as, perhaps, the best possible opportunity for various micro and small businesses that had been registered with the SBB to grow.
We do not recall ever having been afforded an official reason why the 20 per cent allocation did not come into force. The ‘grapevine’ version proffered, however, was that the prerequisite of ensuring that eligibility for accessing the 20 per cent of state contracts was contingent on businesses being NIS and GRA compliant. We knew, of course, that there was simply no way that this could be possible in the immediate term and that what this meant, in effect, was that the whole idea would be shelved, at least in the short term.
That was two plus years ago and as far as we are aware no attempt was made since then to begin the process of rendering those small businesses that might have qualified for the 20 per cent concession eligible. We felt as well, at that time, that the process of rendering small businesses compliant could have commenced with those small businesses that were both eligible and competent and that the GRA and the NIS could have been mandated to give priority to beginning the process of ensuring that more such businesses were brought up to speed, going forward. That too, never happened.
The passage of the Small Business (Amendment) Act 2020 in February of this year and the announcement of a 5% margin of preference to those businesses that qualify under law has given renewed hope that there will finally be some progress.
The 20 per cent of state contracts for small businesses initiative was undoubtedly one of the most significant clauses in the 2004 Small Business Act since it would not only have served as a potential breakthrough point for suitably equipped small businesses to grow – and quickly, but also as an incentive for less well-equipped small businesses to work to improve their capabilities to the level where they would eventually reach the point of eligibility. Beyond that, full implementation would have had an impact on poverty alleviation since bigger jobs for small businesses would have meant the need for them to recruit employees capable of delivering to the standard expected of a state contract. None of this happened.
Fast forward to the end of March 2021 where the available evidence may well suggest that priorities have shifted. As a whole, the private sector, these days have (as we say in Guyana) ‘bigger fish to fry,’ the biggest of those being to have ‘eligible’ business houses positioned to take advantage of what they see as significant potential growth arising out of Local Content opportunities. Of course, whether or not most small and micro businesses will be able to emerge from the battering of the COVID-19 pandemic in any kind of shape to take immediate advantage of the 20 per cent concession is another matter.
Interestingly, since its return to office the new administration’s preoccupation with the resuscitation of the sugar industry has been an undisguised priority. Indeed, one gets the impression that issues to do with micro- and small-business growth and revival, elements that are embedded in the Small Business Act, are going to have to stand in line. One might add that since the promulgation of the Act occurred under a PPP/C administration, the current dispensation may feel some measure of commitment to ensuring that the 20 per cent concession is afforded some measure of focussed attention. Here, it is not only a matter of politics but, in fact, the activation of a consideration that could be a serious game-changer for small businesses as well as for jobs and families, and when all is said and done it would certainly do the image of the incumbent administration no harm.
Going forward and the attendant packed national agenda notwithstanding, the full and effective implementation of the 20 per cent allocation of state contracts to small businesses should be high on the government’s list of priorities.